Finding herself
by Naitriab
Summary: Anomen and Imoen have been captured by Demons and vannished without any trace of where they are. As Ailana and her friends race against time to try and find them they begin to discover that the threat may be from within...
1. Leaving

The characters who you recognise are the property of the game makers. All those who you don't recognise are the property of me.  
  
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The character is a human fighter/thief and female.  
  
For the sake of the story they have gone through the game and the romance with Anomen and have chosen to stay as a mortal.  
  
This starts sometime after the end of the game.  
  
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Athkatla ....  
  
"Simply know that I love you Ailana and will always be at your side ... in peace and battle" Anomen had told her that while they had been trying to stop Melissan. She knew he spoke truely and that he would love her for as long as they both would live. At the time she hadn't though about the future as she had expected to die and the only thing that she wanted to ensure didn't happen was that her friends survived. She had been lucky as most of them had made it through the adventure unscathed only Jaheria had been lost. Ailana was aware that the half elf druid was happier in death than she had been in the two years since they had woken in Irenicus' dungeon to find that Jaherias husband had been murdered. Now that she had time to think Ailana was worried that she had made the wrong decision in allowing herself to care for the knight and to let him see those feelings. He was a knight of the Radiant Heart and a noble man. She was the daughter of the god of murder and leader of one branch of the thiefs guild. She wasn't worthy of him.  
  
Anomen sat at his desk and concentrated on the paper work in front of him, the war between the children of the god Bhaal had had effects even in Athkatla which was many leagues to the north of cities like Saradush where the last battles had been fought. It was very difficult to concentrate however when Ailana was in the room, she was reading several letters which had arrived that morning from various friends that she had made over the time she had spent travelling around the country. She hadn't seen most of them in the six months since Melissan had been defeated. They were scatered all over the country, Ailana spent much of her nights in his house and most of her days in the guild house down on the docks. He had seen the increasing signs of restlessness in her over the last month and knew that she was soon going to be leaving to travel once more.  
  
Ailana was aware of the fact that Anomen was staring at her and she concentrated very hard on the letter from Cernd to stop herself from blushing. She was well aware of the fact that she was engaged to Anomen and was surprised that he had not said anything to her about marriage since the final battle. She loved him and probably always would however she wanted to find out who exactly she was before making any lasting commitment. She knew who Ailana daughter of Bhaal was but the young woman free of that taint was someone else. She wanted to travel for a while and the idea of visiting her friends in the coutry was one that appealed to her. She didn't want to hurt Anomen though which she knew she would if she told him she wanted to be alone.  
  
"Anomen, I have to go and see Renal." Ailana said at length when she couldn't cope with him staring at her anymore. If she was going to leave then she had to tell Renal so he could get someone else to run the guild for her.  
  
"That is fine my darling. I shall wait with bated breath for your return." Anomen said and held his breath while she stood up. Ailana smiled at him before crossing the room and kissing him. Anomens enthusiastic response to the kiss was all that she'd hoped for, he tried to pull her into his lap and only succeded in almost knocking the ink stand over his papers.  
  
"oops." Ailana said with a guilty look on her face.  
  
"The papers are fine." Anomen said after looking at them in a worried fashion for a few seconds.  
  
"Enjoy yourself while I'm gone." Ailana said pulling on a cloak as she headed out the room. Anomen wished she'd wear armour in the street as she had made enemies while in Athkatla and he wouldn't put it past one of them to try and kill her.  
  
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The docks ...  
  
Renal Bloodscalp was having a bad day and it didn't look as though it was going to get any better, the previous night one of the brightest up and comers in the guild had been injured and arrested while trying to rob the Roenal estate, considering it was them Renal was surprised that the boy was still alive.   
  
"Excuse me but guild misstress Ailana is here to see you." Relon said.  
  
"Send her up." Renal said wondering what was wrong with Mae'Vars old guild   
  
"Renal how are you?" Ailana asked bursting into the room  
  
"Good mate and what brings you here?" Renal asked  
  
"I'm leaving Athkatla for a while and you need to get someone else to be in charge while I'm gone." Ailana said not beating around the bush something that had characterised her relationship with Renal  
  
"How long for?" Renal asked   
  
"I don't know. Anyway I might give up the thieving thing when I get back so I can marry." Ailana said  
  
"Will your knight wait for you while you are gone?" Renal asked knowing Anomen for as long as he had known Ailana  
  
"I hope so. If not then I know where we stand." Ailana said  
  
"He does love you. The only reason he isn't pressing for marriage is that he knows you need time to get over what happened down south." Renal said.  
  
"I hope that is all it is. Not second thoughts."  
  
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The Firecam estate ...  
  
"You will look out for him while I'm gone won't you my friend?" Ailana said.  
  
"I will. Are you sure that this is the right thing to do?" Keldorn asked his scared face looking at her concerned.  
  
"I need to just travel for a bit. I will be back within a year." Ailana promised her friend.  
  
"He needs you as much as you need him just don't let anything happen to you as I do not know what Anomen will do."  
  
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The following morning ...  
  
Ailana awoke early and coould feel Anomen still asleep next to her. She quietly pulled on plae brown breeches and a light purple tunic before brushing her brown hair. Her boots she had picked up in the Sahaugin city and protected her from non-magical weapons. She looked at her engagement ring and decided to keep it with her so it didn't look like she was just leaving Anomen.  
  
She placed a note on the pillow where he would find it when he awoke. Her pack was ready packed next to his downstairs as both expected to be callled away at a moments notice. She pulled it on and with a final regretful look at the stairs she left the house and headed towards the gates of Athkatla.  
  
Anomen woke a few hours later and rolled over to look at Ailana to find she was not there. Instead a note rested on the pillow, sitting up her opned it and read it.  
  
"My dear Anomen. I need to find out who I am again. The last five years of my life have been mad and meeting you was the best part of them. I will be back within a year so don't worry. I love you and always will. Please don't try and follow me as I don't wish for you to be hurt. All my love Ailana." It was strange how 7 sentences could change a life so quickly. Anomen read the letter again and knew that she wasn't going to come back. Forgetting his 24 years of life and the fact that he was the Lord of the Delryn estates Anomen sat in his empty bed with his head on his knees and wept.  
  
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What do you think?  
  
Though that could go on its own I would like to carry on with it. I would appreciate feedback however before I carry on. I know Anomen and Keldorn acted slightly strange but I needed them to. If I carry on then more familiar faces will crop up.  
  
Please review, the button is just below here or failing that e-mail me at juliahannah13@yahoo.co.uk.  
  
Thank you 


	2. Nalia

I know that I didn't have a lot of feedback for the last chapter but as I've been working on all my stories I thought I might add another chapter to see if it woked any better.  
  
As usual none of the characters belong to me except for Ailana.  
  
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It had been several hours since Ailana had left Athkatla and she was already missing Anomen. She wasn't sure whether she wanted Anomen to come after her or not. She had asked him not to but Anomen didn't always do what he was told. In the time that they'd travelled together he had often questioned her decision especially if she was travelling along the rightful path or not. Jaheria had questioned her decisions even more, the thought of Jaheria brought a tear to the young womans eye. Jaheria had been the closest thing Ailana had ever had to a mother much in the same way that Gorion was her father. It had been a long time since Jaheria had been killed in the final battle, they had all been seriously injured in the last fight and Ailana had not been able to summon the will to move out of the way of the final spell that Melissan had cast, Jaheria had thrown herself in the way and had been obliterated. What hurt Ailana the most was the fact that she had never got to say goodbye.  
  
Her friends were scattered all over the country and Ailana was determined to see them all before she returned to Anomen once more. She was going to see Nalia first as her friend still lived near by. Ailana had given control back to Nalia seeing that the girl was sufficiently toughened up to deal with any threats to the land that she might have to face. As the familiar sight of the De'Arnise keep came into sight Ailana was reminded of when she had first seen it.  
  
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Flashback   
  
It had taken them 20 hours to get to the keep from the gates of Athkatla. Ailana was not completely comfortable with the group around her as she didn't know three of them proberly. She had walked at the front of the group talking to Aerie who she found fairly harmless if a bit naive. Jaheria was talking to Nalia and trying to explain to the girl why no-one could help everyone in the world. Minsc had been stuck with the paladin and Ailana wished him joy of the mans aquaintance as he never shut up about himself. She didn't know why she'd even agreed to let him in the group in the first place, she already had fighters and a cleric so he served very little purpose. She'd let him stay with them for a short while longer then let him go in return for Yoshimo who seemed much more trust worthy.  
  
The quiet chatter of the group was interupted by a troll suddenly springing out at them. Ailana and Aerie at the front of the group were completely taken by surprise and only quick reactions on both their sides saved them from imediate death. Aerie managed to keep to her feet by grace of the shield that she'd summoned, Ailana on the other hand found herself sprawled on her back with the monster towering over her. She rolled out of the way of the first swipe it aimed at her but knew that there was no way she could avoid the second one. As the creatures claw descended towards her it was blocked by a glowing green warhammer. Ailana scrambled to her feet and shot a grateful glance at Anomen who was no dodging the troll himself. It's attention was soon drawn away from the young man by spells from Aerie and Nalia who were standing together casting spells on the creature. Minsc and Jaheria joined in slashing at the creature where they could. Ailana stayed back slightly so that she could fire arrows at the creature as she doubted that any of her knifes or the short sword would penetrate the creatures thick skin. Minsc, Jaheria and Anomen were starting to wear the creature down with small wounds while the two mages were having a defiante effect on the thing by utilising fire and acid based spells. The creature fell to its knees and Ailana quickly dispatched it with an arrow to the heart.  
  
"Is everyone all right?" Ailana asked looking round. She received nods from the othet five people.  
  
"Are you alright Ailana?" Jaheria asked concerned for her friends wellfare.  
  
"I am fine. Did you forget to mention something to us Nalia?" Ailana inquired giving the younger girl a piericing look.  
  
"I didn't want to lie to you. It was just ... everyone else who was told what they would be up against refused to come." Nalia said looking embarressed.  
  
"You should not have lied Ailana wouold have come anyway." Minsc said sure that the young woman he followed would have done the right thing regardless of the odds.  
  
"You know now, will you still help?" Nalia asked  
  
"We've come this far, we might as well go the rest of the way." Ailana replied.  
  
"We need to head to the fort slightly west of the keep. Any surviours would have regrouped there." Nalia said.  
  
"Let us go then." Ailana said pausing to collect her arrow from the trolls body before moving off. She deliberately walked by Anomen trying to think of the right words to say to him.  
  
"I would thank you Anomen, you saved my life." Ailana said. He flushed slightly  
  
"Think nothing of it. I would have done the same for any who travelled with me. You are giving me the chance to prove my self to the order and if I allowed you to be killed then I would not be proving myself." Anomen pointed out. Ailana smiled at him, the hesitant smile that he gave in return showed that he was in fact much younger than she had originally thought by the way he acted and talked.  
  
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"Ailana it is good to see you again." Nalia said hugging her friend. In the months since Ailana had last seen her Nalia had started to grow her hair and it was now out of the bob she'd had it in the entire time they had been travelling. Ailana hugged her back, Nalia had always reminded her of Imoen, they were both very similar in the way that they acted and in the abilities that they possesed.  
  
"It is good to see you as well."  
  
"I am surprised that Sir Anomen is not with you." Nalia said with a grin a hint of the innocent and playful girl she had once been showing through.  
  
"He is in Athkatla, taking care of his estates." Ailana said sadly.  
  
"You haven't argued have you?" Nalia said shocked  
  
"No. I just wanted time to find myself once more. I think I would have stayed if we had progressed at all with our relationship but Anomen seems to have given up on trying to persuade me to marry him, I don't think he knows me anymore than I know myself." Ailana told her friend.  
  
"Anomen loves you he hadn't wished to push for a marriage as he thought you were uncomfortable. He also wanted to give you time to leave him if that was what you truely desired." Nalia said. She had seen Anomen on occasion when she had been in Athkatla on business and the young knight had confided his fears to her then.  
  
"When did you become so much wiser than me?" Ailana asked. It was a valid question as Nalia was only 19 years old, two years younger than Ailana and had always seemed much younger in the past.  
  
"I am not. I am just lucky that Anomen trusts me enough to confide his fears to me." Nalia said  
  
"It is a shame that he doesn't trust his own fiance enough to tell her these same fears."Ailana said bitterly.  
  
"You know that Anomen still worries that he forced you into becoming mortal because of your feelings for him, it isn't that he doesn't trust you he does, he just doesn't want to feel that he is forcing you into doing anything that you don't want to." Nalia told her friend.  
  
"When I have left tell him that I love him and that if he wants to marry me still then I would be more than willing to when I return." Ailana said  
  
"How long are you staying for?" Nalia asked.  
  
"Just one night." Ailana said  
  
"Do you know where you are going next?" Nalia inquired thinking to tell Anomen and get him there at the same time.  
  
"I have yet to decide. However I will be going to Candlekeep last before returning to Athkatla." Ailana said.  
  
"You will be gald to see it again. Come lets us have a meal and I can tell you what has been happening on the estate." Nalia offered. A plan that Ailana was glad to agree to.  
  
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What do people think of that chapter. I know that none of the dialogue was lifted from the came but as I couldn't be bothered to go through the game up till that point just to find Nalia's lines.  
  
I apologise if I have put Aragorn instead of Anomen anywhere as I was watching the TT DVD at the same time as writing this and the names are quite similar.  
  
If I carry on with this I will put in more flashbacks mainly dealing with Anomen. There will be some type of trouble for Ailana eventually but it always takes a while for that to happen.  
  
If you would like to read more please review. 


	3. Trademeet

Due to the fact that I am still getting one review a chapter I am willing to carry on with this story and until I stop getting reviews I will carry on.  
  
Thank you to my reviewer. Nice to hear from you and the fact that you expressed concern over Anomen's fate.  
  
I am not watching LOTR this time so I shouldn't call Anomen Aragorn at any point.  
  
I apologise if anyone wants to see a lot of any particular character but I won't be bothering with any of them for long other than Anomen or Ailana.  
  
Sorry. Please keep reading and reviewing though as I will be glad to return the favour.  
  
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Ailana always seemed to be leaving somewhere, that was what had characterised her life so far and now was no different. She had been born different and that fact had stopped her from gaining any permenant home over the years. Candlekeep had seemed like home to her and had been so for the first 17 years of her life. As she had told Imoen in Irenicus' dungeon she had grown out of it. Even if Gorion hadn't forced her to leave she would have left anyways, the lust for adventure had been in her blood since the day she was born and would remain with her till the day she died.  
  
She had made up her mind to head for Trademeet next to see if Mazzy and Valygar were currently there or whether the pair were roaming the country dealing out judgement where it was required. She had debated on whether to go to the shadow temple where they had dealt with the Shadow Lord a year earlier as that was where Sarevok, Viconia and Soulaufein were currently living. All three of them were well aware of the fact that they did not fit into society and lived on the edges accordingly. The two drow and her brother would come if they were summoned but until that time they guarded the temple and stopped various collections of other creatures from trying to set up a home there. In the short time the three of them had been in residence they had only had to call for aid for once and that had been to deal with a powerful Lich that had tried to set up home there. Minsc, Imoen and Keldorn had gone and the creature had been defeated. Ailana smiled grimly thinking on the fact that because of her wanderings around the country there was a network in place now that any threat that rose was imediately dealt with by one of her friends and who was able to call for back up from an impressive number of other heros scattered throughout the country.  
  
Trademeet was somewhere she could feel at home as the people there classed her as a hero whereas in other places she was seen as a menace and one that needed to be dealt with. It was a good place to be although it was almost impossible to pass unrecognised especially as there was a statue of her and five of her friends in the centre of the town.  
  
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Flashback  
  
Ailana was looking at the price of the Ras on the market when a runner came up demanding that she came to see Lord Logan at once, Ailana was slightly disapointed as she expected the usual 'Thank you very much for saving our town now get out and never come back again.' She looked at her group and decided that refusing was not a good idea unless she wanted endless lectures from three of her group, Paladins were a pest at times.  
  
"There you are." Logan said greeting her at the door to his office. "I am glad that you managed to arrive so promptly. I would have hated to explain to all the people I have gathered why our hero was not here." Ailana was confused and the grin on the face of haer'Dalis didn't help at all.  
  
"I am sorry Logan but why would you have had to explain anything?"   
  
"After all you have done the cities guild as agreed to comission a statue of you and your friends." Logan said as though it was the simplest thing in the world. Ailana was surprised and judging by the looks on the others faces they round it just as strange.  
  
"You hear that Boo evil had better watch out we are a statue now." Minsc said. Ailana smiled at her friend, nothing ever kept him down for long, she noticed the strange look on Anomens face as he looked at her. As soon as he realised that she was looking at him the look vannished to be replaced by the usual emotionless mask that he wore.  
  
Logan led them into a room where the various important people in Trademeet were dressed, Ailana felt very underdressed in her short tunic and boots, she looked at her friends and was relieved to see that some of them looked as self concious. Aerie was trying to hide behind Minsc whereas Cernd looked as though he was going to run any minute. The behaviour on Cernds part was understandable as some of these people would have been arguing for his death just a few days earlier. Minsc and hear'Dalis looked as though they were used to be being under dressed, it was Anomen who she appreciated the most, he was managing to give the impression that he was better than the people in the room despite the fact that he was wearing dented chainmail and carrying a mace whereas the others were dressed in silk and other fabrics and had probably never done a decent days work in their life.  
  
That memory had made Ailana smile that night, her group had gone to get the mantle back and had given it to Logan, this had meant that the two most important families in Trademeet now hated her, Ailana didn't care. It meant she had somewhere to rob if she ever needed to. Her group were all asleep in Vaytris's pub, she couldn't sleep though and had gone to look at the statue.  
  
"It is impossible to believe is it not my lady." a soft voice said. Ailana spun round to find Anomen behind her, he smiled at her realising that she hadn't heard him. He was dressed in a black tunic with red trimming and had a knife stuck in his belt, as she had noticed in the other times he wasn't wearing his armour he looked much younger. In the time they had been travelling together she had found out that he was only 3 years older than her, despite the fact that he acted much older. She was still surprised that she had kept him in her group rather then lost him after the incident at the De'Arnise keep. What was more alarming to Ailana was the fact that she felt a bond with the man something she didn't want as it only made life more dificult when her friends died as they always did.  
  
"I warrant that you never expected such a thing when you took up with a thief." Ailana said returning his smile.  
  
"I did not know what to expect when I began travelling with you my lady. All I knew was that it was bound to be interesting." Anomen said looking at the statue of Aerie.  
  
"I may be interesting at the moment but I do not wish for you or any of the others to die. When I was travelling in the north it seemed to be all too regular for a friend to die in battle." Ailana said remembering those who had fallen  
  
"I promise my lady that I shall not fall in battle but shall endeavor to stay by your side until you have defeated Irenicus and rescued your sister." Anomen had promised. At the time she hadn't believed him people in the past had promised similar things but none of them had been able to fulfill those promises and there was nothing about the knight which convinced her that he was going to be any different.  
  
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She soon saw the tents that surrounded the city and smiled at the thought of seeing her friends again. Mazzy and Valygar made a good combination. Not for the first time Ailana wondred what it was about the nobles in Athkatla that caused them to turn their backs on privilage and take up adventuring as most of the nobles that she had met had taken to adventuring at some point in their lives. She knew that Mazzy had loved Patrick until he had been killed by the Shadow Lord but on occasion Ailana had seen a hint of affection for Valgar. If the ranger returnned the feeling she had no idea as Valgar was excellant at hiding his emotions. It would be nice if the relationship did move on as seeing her friends happy was her goal in life now.  
  
Ailana pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and entered the city, she wasn't trying to hide she just didn't want everyone to recognise her, she quietly entered through the north gate and made her way to the Fentan home. She was pleased to find that her friends were there having just returnned from and excursion dealing with a wild bear in the imediate area. Valgar had a bandage round his head and Ailana smiled to see how Mazzy fussed round him. Valgar was bearing it with a straight face and Ailana knew that if it was anyone else he would have pushed them away and snapped at them some time ago. When she was offered the chance of a bed for a night Ailana was pleased to accept as other wise she would have had to stay in the pub and be pestered by questions.  
  
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Sorry that not much was seen of Mazzy and Valgar but I tried to write about them with no luck at all. What do people think of a Mazzy Valgar pairing. I think it is a good one but that might just be me.  
  
I hope anyone who is still reading this is happy as I am having to play the game through again to get Anomens lines for the flash backs.  
  
Please review anyway as I would like one review at least before I update again. 


	4. What Anomen did

This chapter is going to be a bit different as I want to do a short chapter with Anomen rather than Ailana.  
  
I hope that everyone reading this is happy with themselves I've been playing the game through again just to get Anomen dialogue for the flashbacks. I hate doing this and hate you lot for making me do it.  
  
Please review but give me a few days to get more dialogue done.  
  
I will do more on my Mazzy/ Valgar pairing in another chapter. I know that one was a bit different but being a romantic at heart I like to see characters settled down.  
  
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Anomen had thrown himself into the running of the Delryn estate to an even greater degree than he had before. Many of the elite in Athkatle had shook their heads and said that it was to be expected. They felt that Anomen was too young to be runing the estate, he had no training and as for his engagement to one of the Bhaalspawn well that was some kind of lunacy. The young man had not been without defenders, Keldorn Firecam and his family had supported the young knight, those who Anomen had helped while travelling with Ailana also ignored the rumors. The worrying thing was that the traders who came to Athkatla did listen and were begining to refuse to trade with any representative of the Delryn estate.  
  
"Anomen. Are you free tonight?" Nalia asked barging into his study.  
  
"Hello Nalia. Was that not locked?" Anomen replied used to the young womans ways.  
  
"Old habits." Nalia said and threw herself into a chair not caring what happened to the well made dress she was wearing.  
  
"Oh. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Anomen asked carefully putting the top on the inkstand.  
  
"I came for several reasons. I wanted to see if you were busy tonight and if you weren't if you would like to go to the circus, Quayle is back again and I promised Aerie that I would go and see it. The other was to let you know that IsawAilanaafmonthago." Nalia said rushing the last bit.  
  
"Was my lady well?" Anomen asked determined that he would stay emotionless.  
  
"Ailana was fine. We spoke about you for a time and her journey." Nalia said relieved that Anomen was not acting emotionally, that surprised her slightly as she would have expected that he would have acted happier after hearing news of his fiance.  
  
"Where did she go after leaving you?" Anomen asked  
  
"She was travelling towards Trademeet." Nalia said having gathered information about Ailana in the last month.  
  
"She went to see Mazzy and Valgar then." Anomen said.  
  
"Yes. She spent a few days with them before leaving, she has disapeared though. She may have left for Candlekeep as she said that it was going to be the last place she went before returning to you." Nalia said.  
  
"I would go after her but I am too busy." Anomen said looking at the pile of papers on his desk.  
  
"You would rather deal with papers than try and find Ailana?" Nalia demanded.  
  
"You know that that is not true." Anomen replied  
  
"She has come after you in the past, when you tried to kill Saerk she came after you to stop you from comiting murder. When Bodhi almost turned you into a vampire she came after you and brought you back. After that you would just abandon her?" Nalia said.  
  
"It is my duty. I have failed that duty several times in the past and no matter what I want, I cannot allow the estate to suffer because of my personal desires." Anomen replied. His eyes revealed to Nalia how torn the man was, he always seemed to be caught between duty and his heart and until Ailana was back with him to help there was going to be no way to tear him away from his papers.  
  
"Ok. I'll go and find Jan and see if he wants to go the circus." Nalia said and headed to the door. As she stood in the doorway she fidled with the ring that she wore on her right hand and pointed at Anomen, as the spell hit him he stifened. Nalia smiled, no matter how often she used the ring its effects always delighted her.  
  
"Anomen, you are going to get your pack and travel to Candlekeep where you will stay with Imoen until Ailana arrives. Do you understand?" Nalia asked  
  
"Yes." Anomen replied in a wooden voice.  
  
"Good boy. You had better set off then, I will deal with your stewards." Nalia said. She watched as Anomen left his chair and headed out the room. When she looked out the window a few minutes later he was walking towards the city gates with his pack on his back. Nalia smiled the next part of her plan was in motion all she needed to do know was find a way to contact Aerie and Hear'Dalis on which ever plane they currently resided on.  
  
Anomen was several hours to the north before the spell wore off, when he was able to think for himself his first reaction was to go back to Athkatla and shout at Nalia before convincing one of the guards to let her stay the night in one of the cells. Once his anger had worn off he realised that his decision was made for him and if her returned now then he would wonder if he had made the right choice or not. He stopped and looked through his pack and was relieved to see that a set of chainmail was on there. Anomen pulled it on as well as the rest of his armor. He tucked his morning star through his belt adjusted the pack and carried on walking north lost in memories of his betrothed.  
  
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Flashback  
  
The group were travelling through the underdark and were exhausted Ailana was at the front with Valgar next to her both looking round intently, one for traps and the other for tracks. Mazzy and Minsc were walking together, that had left Anomen to walk with Imoen. He had asked Imoen to tell him about her childhood suposedly as a way to remind her of better times but also as a way to find out more about Ailana. He had told her of his love at that time but had been unable to act on it due to their current situation. The rest of the group were used to the pair of them curling up to sleep next to each other and no-one had comented on it a fact that the young man was very glad of. Ailana held up the gen that they had earned as they approached the cave and the whole group were very relieved to find a flight of stairs.  
  
"Lets rest at the top of them. I am not sure what this dragon will want and we need to be in the best condition possible." Ailana said.  
  
"We are going to rest here, are we? Then let us away to a secluded corner I am eager to express something to you I have been mulling over all day." Anomen said quietly. Ailana looked up and noded. They left Mazzy and Valgar preparing some type of meal while Imone commented and Minsc fed Boo.  
  
"What is wrong Anomen?" Ailana asked looking at him her deep brown eyes looked at him confused.  
  
"When I first met you my lady... there are many things that went through my head. The possibility that you were not what you seemed for instance. But what was most stricking was the immediacy with which you afflicted my heart. I ignored it, denied it ... until recently. And now it consumes my every waking moment. I am completely in love with you Ailana. I follow you into battle, trust your wisdom without reservation and would, without hesitation, give my life to protect you. There is so much in your...our life, I find myself yearning for something permenant. I ... I would not ask you to promise anything you could not give, my lady. There is death waiting around every corner for us, I know. All that I ask then, is that you accept me as your servant ... that in the days to come, we shall struggle to remian together ... that we shall not abandon each other. If I continue to remain with you, my love ... I could not bear our parting. If ... if you cannot see that for us ... please ... tell me now ..." Anomen said. He felt unsure about what Ailana was going to say and as he looked at her he could not tell what she was thinking, something that could well have been amusement crossed her face and the young knight braced himself for bad news. Ailana looked up at him hesitantly before opening her mouth  
  
"I love you too Anomen ... and I do not want us to part either." She smiled shyly at him, it was a few seconds before Anomen could do more than stare at her amazed.  
  
"That you say this ... pleases me more than I can express. Suddenly I have the desire to shout my love to the heavens, themselves. But shall refrain ... for now at least. Let us return to the others, then and spend the night together ... and when we awake we shall continue your quest." Anomen said. Ailana pulled him close for a quick kiss which he gladly returned. Hand in hand they returned to the rest of the group to eat what little food they had. Valgar was to take the first watch followed by Mazzy, then Minsc, then Anomen and finally Ailana. Imoen was not allowed to yet because they did not think her sufficently recovered from her experiences in Spellhold. Ailana cuddled up to Anomen when they tried to sleep, he was more than pleased to wrap her in his arms. As he fell asleep Anomen could almost imagine that he was safe in bed almost. He was going to have a problem when he returned to Athkatla as his father disliked Ailana not just because she was a thief but because she had persuaded Anomen to not kill Saerk.  
  
For that one night they had been happy, it had been the happiest night of Anomens life at that moment as he realised that he loved and was loved in return. He had learnt to take such moments with Ailana when he could as everything could end the next day.  
  
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What do you think ?  
  
I though an Anomen chapter would make a nice change. I know most of the dialogue is copied out of the game. It took a long time to do and my hand killed afterwards. Before anyone asks Ailana was finding the image of Anomen in something akin to a maids outfit funny.  
  
What is Nalia up to?  
  
We will be back with Ailana next chapter as she enters the druid grove only to find herself in serious trouble again.  
  
Please review. I know I had two reviews for chapter 4 but one doesn't count towards this one. I don't think this will carry on much further or if it does there will be quite a few lengthy falshbacks.  
  
Thank you.  
  
Naitraib. 


	5. A threat

I would like to say a big thank you to Carrie Ann Alink and the files she sent me with all of Anomens lines in it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  
  
That will make it so much easier for me to do this.  
  
After dealing with Anomen last chapter I am going back to Ailana, this chapter does however take place a few days before the last one so Anomen is not on his way to Candlekeep yet he is sulking at his house.  
  
I think that it is quite amazing that this is acctually going down quite well, one I'd recomend to people if they like Anomen PC fics is Journey to the North by Kendis it is well worth checking out.  
  
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Ailana was two days away from Trademeet and was enjoying the walk through the countryside as when she had walked this route in the past there had always been some pressing emergency at hand and now it was nice to just look around. She missed her group though as for several years now she had always had others with her. She missed Minsc and his naive comments, Imoen and her willingness to live life each day and not for the future most of all she missed Anomen and the feeling of love she always had whenever he was near whether she was looking at him or not. The thought of seeing him again and hopefully marrying him made her quicken her step. The sooner she had seen her friends then the sooner she could be with Anomen once more. She had long since aknowledged the fact to him and herself that she loved him and he had been more than vocal in his declaration.  
  
She would have admitted to herself that she knew nothing of romance before she had met Anomen, there had been the odd boy in Candlekeep who had asked her for kisses but no-one beyond that. Other than that there had been only her treatment at the hands of Irenicus to show her what love was. When she had met Anomen iin the Copper Coronet she had been lost, her sister had been captured and she was in a strange place and faced with the seemingly impossible task of raising money. She had not expected to fall in love. Anomen had been arogant when she had first met him but after he saved her life at the DeArnise keep she saw the use in keeping him around. In Trademeet he had promised that he would be there for a long time, she hadn't believed him as no-one was there for her all the time, she did not know why a knight who did not know anything about her other than what the tales said would want to stay by her. It had been after they had rescued Imoen and they were leaving the asylum that things began to change.  
  
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Flashback.  
  
It was in a daze that they staggered out of the door only to be confronted by a hoard of Shadows, Anomen and Aerie stepped forward casting spells as they were the only ones with any magic left to use. Minsc straightened up and charged forward, Haer'Dalis went to Aeries side making sure that no-one got close to her while she was casting spells. Imoen also went wearily forward with Ailana behind her the two theives were just too tired, they were soulless and finding it difficult to carry on. Ailana had the added weight of the slayer as well, the evil that lurked inside her was always trying to break free. When the last of the shadows fell dead Minsc looked to see if anyone was on the verge of death as he always kept his few healing spells in reserve in case a surprise attack happened and the clerics were used up, luckily everyone seemed unhurt though Anomen, Aerie and Ailana looked on the verge of collapse. Hear'Dalis was supporting Aerie while Imoen was holding her sister which left Minsc to help the knight.   
  
The 6 weary adventurers crossed the many bridges and made it back to the mainland before collapsing on the ground. Ailana and Aerie fell asleep imediately, it was obvious that Anomen was in no state to stand a watch so Minsc and Haer'Dalis arranged a watch between them. The other four slept the night through only waking when the sun was just starting to climb above the heavens. Ailana led the group down the slight slope towards the port and to find out what Saemon Haverian wanted, Anomen stayed close by her a gesture that the thief appreciated as some of the others did not trust her enough to stay that close now that she had a monster inside of her. She noticed that he stooped down and picked a red flower and looked at it intently.  
  
"You see this flower that I have picked here? 'Tis a rare find ... a crimson rhodelia if I am not mistaken." Anomen said a few seconds later, Ailana glanced at it having never been that interested in flowers despite the best attempts of Gorion.  
  
"It's a pretty enough flower" Ailana said not sure what else to say  
  
"'Tis a most stately flower, my lady. Its colour has the most firey tempermant, yet its aroma is sweet. It is the flower of lovers yet it is also the flower of vengence and warriors. It reminded me of you, my lady. Beautiful to look upon, yet with a powerful nature. I find myself drawn to its scent, giving myself over almost to distraction." Anomen said. Despite the seriousness of his tone Ailana presumed that he was joking and answered him accordingly.  
  
"You are quite the flatterer, Anomen"  
  
"Nonsense my lady. Flattery would imply that I was exagerating. I find instead that this flower is but a pale imintation of the attraction you hold for me. You may find what I say forward. And if you find it unwelcome I shall desist. But I have found that my feelings for you to have grown beyond that of mere friendship or alliance. I have said many times how grateful I am, but I have never told you that I was attracted to you from the start ... your heart and bright soul not to mention you beauty. Do ... do my words offend you, my lady? Have I overstepped myself?" He asked anxiously, he had grabbed her arm and pulled her off the path drawing curious looks from the rest of the party to see the knight and their leader in such close proximity to each other. Ailana ignored them focusing instead on what was being said to her. Being a thief she was used to dealing with people lying to her, she wanted to think that Anomen was lying to her. The problem was that she could feel the sincerity of what he was saying. She looked up and met his eyes, seeing pain already beginning to gather there. She had no idea when she had allowed the knight to get under her walls. She had always prided herself on being able to keep everyone out, she hadn't kwpt him out though and that was going to be a problem. A part of her wanted to reject him flat out but the other part of her wanted to know what was wrong with being happy while she could, Anomen would make her happy, there was no denying that.  
  
"No, I take no offense. I rather like it."  
  
"I am pleased. I know little of pretty women such as yourself. My experience being this, I'll express myself as best I am able, and be thrilled by your response. Come then, good lady. Let us continue on your quest ... we can talk more at a later time and I shall be free to compliment you at your leisure." Anomen said before hurrying to catch up with the rest of the party. Ailana followed him in a slight daze not sure what had just happened just sure of one thing and that was the fact that Anomen cared for her. Her! A thief and the daughter of a demon, a nobody and she had allowed him to see that she cared back. Life ceratinly was getting interesting.  
  
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Ailana was jerked out of her happy memories of Anomen by the sudden appearance of three men in front of her. They must have been under the influence of an invisibility spell or potion as otherwise she would have sensed them no matter how engrosed she was in her memories.  
  
"Are you Ailana of Athkatla?" one of them asked   
  
"What concern is it of yours?" Ailana demanded  
  
"We are hired to remove you. As long as you are alive you are a threat." the same man said. Ailana noticed the movements of one of the other men, having travelled with mages for the last 5 years it was no challenge for Ailana to work out what he was up to. With a sigh she threw a dagger into his chest which broke his concentration. The other two men charged forward. Whoever had hired the pair of them did not think very highly of Ailana's skills as she dealt with them very easily.  
  
"You have no idea what you are losing do you?" the man said as he lay dying on the floor.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ailana demanded.  
  
"Your friends and family, even your lover will pay the price of your cursed lineage." the man said and died.  
  
"Anomen." Ailana breathed and after gathering her knifes prepared to return to Athkatla and find out what was going on. She had no idea that it was already too late.  
  
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What do you think of that then?  
  
There is now a threat and some type of a story.  
  
Things are going to get very bad now for Ailana and even worse for Anomen. Aww bless.  
  
Please review and let me know what you think I am waiting to hear from you. 


	6. Keldorn

Wow three reviews for bit 5 that is the best yet. Thank you so much for reviewing. I am putting my LXG and Stargate stories on hold for now so I can concentrate on this one and my LOTR story as well as my assignments. This was meant to only have three more chapters, i.e. going to Candlekeep, the wedding and the aftermath. However I have decided that there is a bit more to go than that. It may not have a happy ending either, looking at 'The Notes' if you want evidence that I do not like happy endings all the time.  
  
Anyway the usual apply, I don't own any of the characters apart from Ailana and even then she isn't completely mine.  
  
I hope you like this chapter, feel free to send me questions about anything in this chapter but be warnned I may not answer them.  
  
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Ailana made good time in getting back to Athkatla, she managaed to avoid the guards who despite the fact that they knew who she was made her go through a long quizz and test everytime she tried to get into the gates of the city. It took her very little time to get back to Anomen's house even the few muggers that she saw on her way caught the 'stay away or else' vibes that she was giving off, a fact which would probably be the smartest thing they had ever done. The house was empty of all but a few servants, Ailana was slightly surprised especially as Anomen rarely left the house, the fact that he'd gone looking for her or had been taken prisoner did not even occur to her. Deciding that Keldorn was most likely to know where the knight was the young thief headed towards the Firecam estate.  
  
Keldorn and his wife were sitting together having just finnished lunch when Ailana hurried in on the heels of the servant who had come to announce her pressance to the Lord and Lady of the house.  
  
"Ailana. It is good to see you again." Keldorn said getting to his feet with a smile  
  
"Where's Anomen?" Ailana demanded her worry over her partner removing any social niceties that she would otherwise feel that she needed to perform.  
  
"I have not seen him for some days now. He had been unhappy about you leaving him and had thrown himself into his estate work. The Lady Nalia had paid him a visit three days ago, I have not heard from or seen him since." Keldorn said slightly worried about why Ailana had returnned from her journey so early.  
  
"Who is in Athkatla at the moment?" Ailana asked realising that if as she thought this was a serious threat she would need help to rescue Anomen.  
  
"Other than myself the only other one is Jan Jansen." Keldorn said.   
  
"Would you be able to get messages to the others?" Ailana asked  
  
"Do you think that this is serious then ?" Keldorn asked  
  
"I was attacked while on my way south. The men who attacked me told me that everyone I cared about would be in trouble. I need to get to Anomen and Imoen. They are in danger."  
  
"Would Sarevok be in danger?" Keldorn asked  
  
"I should not expect so. Viconia and Soulafein are with him and the three of them are capable of dealing with most threats. If things get too dificult then Mazzy and Valgar are near by as well as Minsc." Ailana said  
  
"I shall send messages to those of our friends who are close by and see if they are able to meet here. I shall also contact Sir Ryan Trawl to ensure that Sir Anomen has not been sent on a mission for the order." Keldorn said and left the room. This left Ailana alone with Keldorns wife. The two women had never seen eye to eye, Lady Firecam was a true memeber of the nobility and as such had all the prejudices that came with it. Lady Firecam could not understand what Anomen Delryn could see in a thief and to make it even worse she was the daughter of a God the fact that he was wiling to become engaged to Ailana was completely bewildering to her.  
  
"The Delryn family were very well thought of until you arrived. I have heard much of you in the last year and what you have done. Sir Anomen was not the first knight that you have managed to get into your hands I heard about Sir Ajantis and how you killed him, did he refuse to marry you. If Anomen hadn't made you the offer would you have had him killed, oh sorry you did, I seem to recall that you let him become a vampire then killed him for it. Have you killed him yourself now and are claiming to have no idea where he was. That is all you can do is it not. You almost destroyed my family and you allowed the family of Lady De'Arnise to be killed." Lady Firecam said. The young thief took an involuntary step back at the anger in the older womans voice. She had known that some people did not like her but she had no idea that people she was aquainted with thought that way about her. Rather than argue with Keldorn's wife she hurridly left the house and hurried to Waukeens to find Quayle to see if he could find a way to contact Aerie and Haer'Dalis and to get them to return to the prime plane from where ever they currently were. If it came to that no-one was sure where the pair were as after they had patched up their disagreements they had left to find Raelis and see what trouble her troop of actors were in. Ailana wanted to get as many of her old travelling companions together as possible especially if they were going to have to rescue Anomen from some kind of trouble.  
  
Keldorn returnned to his wife and his friend just in time to see Ailana bolt from the room and the self satisfied expression on his wifes face. He didn't know what his wife had said to upset Ailana but being well aware of his wifes opinions it was going to have been unpleasant and as hurtful as she could make it.  
  
"What did you say to Lady Ailana?" Keldorn asked giving Ailana the title that he felt she deserved not only by virtue of her engagement to Anomen but also by her past actions which had showed a caring for the ordinary people that was all to rare in the world.  
  
"Nothing. I was just discussing Lord Delryn with her."  
  
"I may well have to leave to help her if this is a serious threat." Keldorn said  
  
"You promised me that you would be here for me in the future. I thought that you had given up adventuring." His wife said the hint of a whine in her voice.  
  
"I have my love yet when a trusted friend and companion is in need of my aid then I must hasten to their side." Keldorn said. His voive tried to convey the fact that this was just being done out of a sense of duty but the light in his eyes told anyone who knew him that this was much more than that.  
  
Ailana meanwhile had not gone very far, she was at a loss for what to do. She wanted to run after Anomen but with little idea of when he had gone let alone which dircetion he had gone she couldn't. There was also the fact that this could well develop into a serious threat and if that was the case then she would need all the help she could get. She had planned on going to see Quayle but she gad got as far as the park in front of the Council of Six building and had sunk down on the bench lost in her thoughts. Anomen had done so much for her more than anyone else with the exception of Gorion, despite how she had been brought up she had aways had problems with the upper class mainly because of the way that some of them had treated her when they had visited Candlekeep, Anomen though had been different, he had not started out that way and at first she had disliked him due to his arogance. However has he had travelled with her and had seen how she always wanted to help those who needed it no matter what class they belonged to he had started to change, Ailana had no idea when she had fallen in love with him but it had certainly been before they had reached spellhold as the whole time she had been in the test tube she had been terrified as to what Irenicus was going to do to Anomen. The flower that he had given her was still in her journal, it had survived the incident with the Shaugin and the countless trips to Bhaal's realm and back. She loved her knight truely and she would always do so, it had been his love that had been one of the main reasons that she had decided to stay as a mortal, she had seen his father and how he had been an umpleasant drunk, she worried that if she left shortly after Moira died then Anomen would turn to the same solution and would hate himself and her for that. She made a promise to herself that when she had Anomen back in her arms where he was meant to be then she was going to push for the wedding to take place as soon as possible, she did not care who she was supposed the be anymore she just wanted to be the wife of Anomen and then she would be content.  
  
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Sorry this has taken such a long time to put up as I have been working on it for a week + now. Sorry. Anyway let me know what you think and I'll try to update quicker in the future. 


	7. The pair from the planes

When I started this story I had no idea where it was going. I thought I was going to end up with a bg wedding and everyone living happily ever after. As you can tell from where this story is going now that may well not happen. Anomen will be back probably in a few chapters and there will be other characters turnning up now.  
  
Sorry about the delay but I haven't been able to acctually write anything for a while. Once I get going I should be updating quicker.  
  
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Two days later .... Athkatla   
  
It had taken Quayle a few days till he had managed to gather together the ingrediants needed to summon Aerie and her mate from where ever they were in the planes. Some of the ingredients were very rare but in a city as prosperous as Athkatla it had not been too difficult. Ailana was the only person present other than the gnome and she watched fascinated as he began the ritual. Despite the fact that she had been travelling with sorcerers for years and had been raised by one she still found the actual process amazing. The gnome chanted some words that she did not understand, this was followed by him sprinkling some type of herb into the air. The air in front of the pair shimered and began to glow white, the light gradually increased in brightness till Ailana could not look at it. She looked away and drew a knife in case what ever came through the portal was not friendly. The light flared brightly again and then vannished leaving two people in its place.  
  
"Uncle Quayle, are you alright?" Aerie asked worried about her uncle. She looked very different to when she had last been on the mortal plane, he golden hair was plaited out of her face and she was dressed in loose trousers and a shirt. This was something that Haer'Dalis had said he was going to get her in but no-one had believed him. The blue haired man smiled at the sight of his partner greeting her family then turnned to Ailana. There had been a brief flirtation between them when he had first joined the group but it had never become anything too serious between them both realising that their hearts belonged with other people. This did not stop them from being very good friends and close to each other.  
  
"Ah my raven, I should have imagined the possibility that you would one day require our help once more." Haer'Dalis said with a smile and a deep bow to the one time leader of his group.  
  
"It is good to see you again." Ailana said honestly  
  
"What's wrong Ailana ? Uncle Quayle said you needed our help." Aerie said putting an arm round her mates waist in an obvious showing of territorial instincts.  
  
"Anomen has disapeared. No-one has seen him for days. One of the gate guards claims he was heading north so I thought I'd head towards Candlekeep and see if he has made it there. I wanted you two to come with me and Keldorn in case we run into any trouble. That is if you can." Ailana said. Haer'Dalis and Aerie exchanged looks.  
  
"Of course we shall accompany you Ailana. We can stay for the wedding afterwards as well." Aerie said with an impish smile.  
  
"Thank you. I was hoping to begin our travels tomorrow morning, so if you could meet me at the Delryn mansion an hour before sunrise then I would be grateful. " Ailana said. Her friends both nodded. Ailana left them to their reunion and headed towards the docks, she needed to speak to Renal and tell him that she was retiring from leading the guild. This was something that Anomen had asked her to do in the past but she had always refused an issue which had sometimes led to arguments between the pair.  
  
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Flashback  
  
"Where have you been all night ? I was imagining all type of things had happened to you and now you decided to stroll in!" Anomen said angrily  
  
"I was not aware that I had to let you know where I was at all times of the day Anomen." Ailana shot back. She was tired and was not prepared to argue with Anomen at this time  
  
"You were out robbing somewhere weren't you !" Anomen did not bother making it a question.  
  
"No I wasn't. I promised you that I would not engage in any acctual criminal activity just run one of the guilds." Ailana said starting to become angry now.  
  
"What reason have I to believe you. I know next to nothing about you. You do not tell me anything about yourself. You run the risk of my good name being dragged to the courts. I should have listened to the Order when they told me that nothing any good would become of any liason with a Bhaal spwan." Anomen almost spat the hated name. He had never called her that and Ailana was shocked that he called her it now. Deciding that nothing she said would help at all she hurried up the stairs to her room and with slightly blured vision began throwing her clothes in a bag. She would not need the gowns and other frivolous clothes that Anomen had bought her instead deciding to only take practical clothes. The clothes of a thief. She had been kidding herself in believing that she could have a life with Anomen, life was not a fairy tale and there were no happy ever afters, it would never have worked. When she came down the stairs again she could see that Anomen hd not moved from his previous position.  
  
"Thank you for allowing me to stay in your house Sir Anomen. I have not taken anything that belongs to you from upstairs. The only thing that I need to return is this." Ailana said holding out the engagement ring. Anomen automatically reached out to take it from her not really registering what it was that he was taking. Knowing that she would break down and cry if she stayed any longer Ailana hurridly left the house and his life determined to not look back.  
  
Anomen did not allow himself any time to think that day, he threw himself into his accounts and other matters, he was well aware that if he allowed himself to stop and think then he was likely to break down. He wouldn't do that. However by the end of the day tiredness was starting to get to him as he had not managed to get any sleep the previous night due to his worrying about her. Making a valient effort the young man tried to stay awake but going over the expenditures since his fathers death was not exactly enthralling reading and before too much longer the young man had fallen asleep. To say that Anomen enjoyed a night of uninterupted sleep would be a lie as all night he was haunted by images of Ailana and their lives together. He had felt a connection to her as soon as she had walked in the door in the copper Coronet looking lost and confused as the year had worn on he had realised that he was in love with her and that he would be willing to give up everything even his knighthood for her. When he woke the following morning he was determined that no matter what he would find her no matter where she was and convince her that he did still love her and had just been worried about her safety.  
  
Once his secretary had arrived Anomen told him to deal with any queries that anyone raised in the day and that he'd deal with them later that day when he had Ailana back where she belonged. His first place to call was Keldorn's home in case Ailana had chosen to go there, the Firecam family had not seen her for some days now. Anomen was not happy to go to the next place to look for her. He did not like thieves, a fact he found interesting as he was proposing to marry one. Ailana was different though as she did not act like any of the thieves he had come into contact with during his earliest years. He had started to rethink many of his old ideas over the last year or so as some of them seemed to be just what Lord Cor had taught him and therefore untrue.   
  
The thieves who guarded Renal's home recognised Anomen and let him in without any trouble, Anomen knew that any of the thieves there would pick his pockets so had made sure that he only had the bare minimum amount of cash with him so that if he lost it it would be annoying but not too much of a financial setback.  
  
"Sir Anomen, I was wondering when you would get here" Renal said with a grin  
  
"Have you seen Ailana?" Anomen asked  
  
"I have but she does not want to see you." Renal said  
  
"I wish to apologise to my lady, if she still wants nothing to do with me after that then I will leave her alone." Anomen said  
  
"She is in her guild house. I warn you though mate, you may have helped me out in the past but if you hurt her then I swear I will have you killed." Renal said   
  
"If she wishes to have nothing more to do with me then I might as well be dead. She is my reason to live, I would be nothing withbout her." Anomen said seriously.  
  
"Then best of luck to you mate. You'll probably need it." Renal said. Anomen hurried down the stairs and out the door trying to avoid running into anybody he didn't suceed completely as he managed to catch one of the thieves as he ran past. Before hurrying towards Mae'vars old guildhouse and where Ailana should be  
  
End Flashback  
  
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Ailana made sure she had everything in her pack, the memory she had been lost in was not one of her best as she did not wish to recall any instances where she had argued with Anomen. He had found her though and made it up to her. Leaving the guild now was a compromise she was willing to give that up to be with Anomen, she would give up everything for him as she had already given up being a god. She knew that he would do the same for her if it was required of him. Now all she wanted was him back in her arms where he belonged and a priest to marry them then she would be happy.  
  
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Hope that chapter was worth the wait.   
  
Next chapter Ailana, Keldorn, Aerie and Haer'Dalis start to try and track down Anomen. Is it too late though ?  
  
Please review and I'll get the next chapter up soon. This one only took me a couple of hours to do so should be able to do the next one pretty quick. 


	8. Setting off

It hasn't been long since I last updated this but I know what I'm doing with this story at the moment. Things are about to go seriously wrong for Ailana and Anomen. Not that they haven't already. I have two endings for this story, happy or sad so if you let me know which one you think would work better I would be very grateful.  
  
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Early morning Athkatla ...  
  
"It will be good to travel the mortal plane again will it not my dove" Haer'Dalis said to Aerie while they waited for Ailana and Keldorn to arrive. Aerie did not bother replying. Haer'Dalis knew that she prefered being on the mortal plane than any of the others that they had traveresed through, he smiled inwardly at how she had chosen to dress for this trip, gone were the clothes she had been wearing on their travels she was now dressed as she had during the Bhaal spawn wars, this was mainly to disguise how good she now was at hand to hand fighting, as her being underestimated was something that could well prove to be an asset if they found themselves in any sort of trouble. The strange looking pair had already recieved strange looks from the people walking the streets as the pairs striking looks were not exactly common in that part of Athkatla.  
  
Ailana joined them a few minutes later, unlike the last time she had left Athkatla this time she had made sure she was prepared fro any eventuallity and had weapons anywhere she could fit them. Despite the seriousness of the mission they were about to embark on the three young people amused themselves while waiting for Keldorn to arrive. Ailana and Haer'Dalis threw knifes between each other while Aerie juggled balls of light, many of the people who walked past at least recognised Ailana and looked down at the display she was putting on when she was engaged to the head of one of the oldest houses in the city. The disaproving looks she was getting would have made Ailana laugh at another time she had wanted to shake up the polite world of Athkatlan society for some time now and it was good to finally get the chance. She was sure that Anomen would not have aproved at first then would eventually have been persuaded to see her point of view at some point as he had been so often in the past.  
  
Keldorn watched them all fondly for some time before joining them, though it was quite likely that most would live much longer than he had as most were of various immortal races it was good to see that despite everything that had happened to them they had not lost their sense of playfulness. He just hoped that whatever had happened to Anomen did not affect Ailana too badly as if he had been killed the woman might not be able to cope with the loss of yet another person close to her heart, she had lost the man she had classed as a father as well as the woman who had tried to act as motherly as she was capable of towards another human being and the loss of the man she loved may well have been the loss that pushed her too far.  
  
"Keldorn I am glad you have joined us." Ailana said giving him a smile as soon as she saw him.  
  
"I will be at your service any time you desire it Ailana." the knight said.  
  
"I know that my friend but I hope that this is the last time I shall require it for a mission of this type. The next service I hope that you will perform for me is to give me away in marriage to Anomen." Ailana said. Her belief in her fiance being found alive was such that it rang out in every word she said when mentioning him  
  
"I would be deeply honoured to help you in that way and I can not think of anyone more worthy of you than Anomen Delryn." Keldron smiled again.  
  
"Talking about him will not bring him back, we had best get going and find him as soon as possible." Ailana said and led the way towards the gate, they did not get very far as they were just about to pass through the gate someone hailed them.  
  
"Ailana would you wait please. I'm coming with you." a voice called. Ailana turnned and saw Nalia hurrying towards them. Her hair had been tied back to a very short ponytail and was dressed in breeches and shirt very different to how she had ever been dressed before.  
  
"How did you find out that we were leaving ?" Ailana demanded  
  
"I'm a mage." Nalia replied  
  
"Nalia..." Ailana tried to persuade the younger woman that she should stay behind and look after her estates, it was not good for her people if the person in charge of their lives was never there.  
  
"I have hardly been there to run the estate in the two years since I inheritied it. My steward knows what he is doing, far more than I do. The people will not notice that I am not there. You are my friend and I want to help you. You may need my help before too long anyway." Nalia tried to persude her friend.  
  
"Fine. You'll only follow us if I say that you can't come with us. Don't slow us down though." Ailana said deciding to conceded the point at last. As the 5 set out northwards in an attempt to find the missing knight they were all lost in their own thoughts. Ailana glanced back at the city seeing it lit by the dawns glow and was reminded of a day some months earlier   
  
Flashback ...  
  
Solar had returnned the 5 of them to just outside Athkatla, Ailana was cried out for Jaheria and lent weakly on Anomens arm. The knight looked down worridly at his love, she had just turnned down the opportunity of an immortal life and had had the Bhaal taint removed and consequently was barely able to stand. None of the others were in any better state, Anomen and Minsc were managing to stay upright by a supreme effort of will, in Anomens case it was his all consuming worry for Ailana and in Minscs case it was his refusal to show any weakness in front of anyone. Aerie and Haer'Dalis were leaning on each other both grey faced from the spells they had been forced to utilise to defeat the final Bhaal child who hungered for the dead gods power.  
  
Though none of them were hurt as Solar had healed their wounds before returnning them to the mortal plane the 5 weary adventurers could feel every wound that had been inflicted upon them as well of the wounds of the spirit that would take much more time to heal.  
  
"Do you think that we can all make it to my house ?" Anomen asked thinking that it would be the best place for them all to recoperate after what they had just been through.  
  
"We shall have to try as I do not feel up to braving one of Athkatla's inns." Ailana said with the hint of a smile on her face for him reminding Anomen of the fact that it had been in one of these inns that they had met. Anomen smiled gently back knowing how much Ailana must have been hurting at all she had lost in one day. The group managed to make their way back to the rich area of Athkatla where the Delryn family had their home. Dismissing the servants Anomen led the way up the stairs. Aerie and Her'Dalis were given Anomen's mothers old room and Minsc was given his fathers room leaving Ailana and Anomen alone.  
  
"My sisters room is available for you to sleep in my lady." Anomen said gently as Ailana seemed hardly aware of her surroundings.  
  
"I don't want to be alone tonight. I doubt that I can sleep in any case but may I share with you?" Ailana asked blushing slightly.  
  
"If that is what you desire my lady then you may. You must try and get some sleep though my lady." Anomen said gently.  
  
"Maybe your presance will be soothing my love. I desire to forget what has happened this day though as yet another person has been a victim of this curse that seems to follow me around and is now dead." Ailana sobbed out.  
  
"It is over now. I promise you though that I will not allow myself to be killed and leave you alone." Anomen promised as he led her along the corridor to his room.  
  
End flashback  
  
Nalia saw the older woman become lost in memories and for a moment her eyes glowed red in delight at what was to come...  
  
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................  
  
There you go then part 8.  
  
What's going on with Nalia then ?  
  
Is Anomen still alive ?  
  
Will Ailana ever loose the curse of those she cares about dying around her ?  
  
Please review and I will start to answer those questions. I'm feeling rather proud of myself having done 4 updates for stories and 2 newones while I've been away which for me is very good going.  
  
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will let me know what you think. 


	9. Candlekeep

I think that it has been a while since I last updated this, acctually I know it has been quite a while. I should probably be updating a couple of other stories first but this one hadn't got a chapter started on my laptop before it started going wrong and is currently being fixed. sniff sob.

* * *

Candlekeep a week later ...  
  
Sir Anomen had found that walking hard and barely stopping all day was working well, he was already well on his way towards Candlekeep home of Ailana's sister Imoen. This regime of heavy walking also helped him to not think about his fiance and what trouble she could well be in. He just hoped that by going to look for her he was not going to jepordise their relationship as Ailana was prone to be emotional at times and he did not need an argument in front of her surogate family as soon as he walked inside the gates.  
  
Considering the fact that Candlekeep was home to monks and a few sorcerers the arrival of several well armed and obviously trained men onto the scene was a bit of a surprise to Anomen.  
"Are you from Candlekeep?" Anomen asked anxious to know if these men were likely to attack him or not.  
"We are and you would be?" one of them asked. Judging by the gold thread on the mans shoulders Anomen made an educated guess that this man was in charge of the others.  
"Lord Anomen Delryn, knight of the order of the most radient heart from Athkatla."  
"Imoen has spoken of you and I warrant that she would be glad to see you. If you would follow us my lord we will esscort you to Candlekeep. I am Sir Kalon."  
"Sir Kalon, I would be honoured to partake of the hospitality of Candlekeep. My Lady has often spoken of her home and I have never had the pleasure of visiting it before." Anomen replied.  
  
The other knight nodded in reply with Anomen in the centre the small group led the way back to Candlekeep. Anomen had heard Imoen and Ailana talk about the place while they had travelled together and had heard the real love in the two womens voices for the place. The Keep was very different from where Anomen had grown up. The place was on an outcrop over the sea and was surrounded by empty countryside. The walls were high and looked as though they could stop a raid if they needed to. Once through the gate he could see the various houses, these were dominated by the massive central tower.  
"I will find Imoen and tell her that you are here. If you would like to wait in the library I will send her to you when we have found her." Kalon said.  
"Thank you for that. I have been travelling for some time now and it will be good to relax in a quiet atmosphere once more." Anomen said.  
"I am sure it will be. If you will follow me I will escort you there." Kalon walked up the steps and through the main door with Anomen behind him. The knight felt very out of place in his travel stainned armour and the weapons he carried especially as he was surounded by people who were obviously scholars and while they may have been aware of what went on in the world around them it was rare for it to impact on them.  
  
Anomen stood in the library waiting for Imoen, he would have sat in one of the chairs but he had no desire to dirty the seats to the extent that his chainmail would.  
"Anomen, it is good to see you again, is Ailana here as well?" Imoen asked coming into the room.  
"I am afraid that she did not journey with me. I had hoped that she would be here, but obviously not. She left me some weeks ago to visit some of our friends. She had not returned when I left Athkatla." Anomen said.  
"I have not heard from her for a while now, I am sure that she is okay though. Do you think she is likely to come here though?"  
"I believe so. Nalia said that Ailana had planned to come here before coming back to our home. Would you mind if I waited here for her ?" Anomen asked "Certainly not. You are almost my brother and why would I want to turn family away." Imoen said with a smile and a hug. "Now come with me and we'll see you settled. I'm sure that you want to freshen up and rest after your journey."  
  
Following Imoen from the room Anomen looked round to see what he could of the place. Years of working for the order and sometimes having to get out of places quickly meant that he always tried to take notice of what was happening around him so he could make a quick exit if he needed to. In the years since he had entered the service of Helm he had visited most of the major fortresses and grand places around the continent but none of them had the homely air that Candlekeep had and he found it a nice change. Many people in the robes of the mage or the sorcerer walked the corridors, many of them reading books or scrolls as they went.

* * *

"Is everything in place?" "It is, I have made sure that our people know to leave the cleric and the Bhaal mage alone. They are to kill everybody else." A lesser demon said "The attack needs to begin tomorrow, I will make sure that the child of Bhaal and her friends are there within a few days." The demon king said "I do not see why we can't just attack her now and not bother with all this plotting." A cambion muttered "That is because you are dead." The king said a carelessly pulled the creatures head off. None of the other demons let any expression cross their face, the slightest sign of weekness would result in them being devoured by the others. Not that demons were a particularly emotional bunch anyway and seeing a lower creature pulled apart by another higher up the ranking was a normal occurance.

* * *

There you go. I like that chapter I've got Anomen to Candlekeep and also revealed one of my bad guys.  
  
Next chapter deals with the attack on Candlekeep then I'll get back to Ailana again. I'm just stuck on what to do with her at the moment.  
  
If you could let me know what you think of this so far then I would be grateful. Pleaseee let me know what you think. 


	10. Memories and a battle

Okay then update time.

Still with Anomen this chapter but I'll be back with Ailana next chapter or the one after I know whats going on now. I've got two endings written one is the wedding and the other is the sad one will prolly post both eventually but not until I get to that point in the story.

Anyway its the 18th of november and it's snowing - What is with that ? I'm in a good mood so enjoy.

* * *

Imoen was not sure why Anomen had suddenly arrived at Candlekeep especially as Ailana was not with him, she liked the knight well enough though he still tended to act pompous at time. Imoen was prepared to set that aside as it was obvious that he adored her sister and would do anything for her, in that respect he had Imoens full aproval. Her recent studies of magical arts though had deepened her understand of the world around them, she knew that something was happening in Amn and that Anomens arrival at Candlekeep tied in with this. She wished that she had more powers of divination but there were very few people who possesed those abilities in the country now, looking out the window she wished she could see what was going to happen but knew that she had no idea other than the fact it was going to be bad.

Some hours later Anomen had returned to his room after eating a meal with Imoen and sir Kalon and was trying to compose his mind to sleep, this had been something that he had been finding more and more dificult to do since Ailana had vannished. He had not allowed himself to dwell on his disapointment that Ailana had not been there but he could only hope that she would be there soon. Thinking about her eventually caused him to fall asleep smiling slightly at memories of her.

Flashback ...

Anomen caught Ailana as she swayed and almost fell, she had just teleported them back to the pocket plane after a viscious battle with the lich in Amketheran,

"Thank you Anomen." Ailana said. "Let's get some rest before we try and carry on."

"My love, may I speak to you ? In private. It is a matter of ... of great importance." Anomen said hesitantly

"Come let us go and use the healing pools." Jaheria said and ushered the other three people in front of her and up the steps leaving the other pair alone

"Of course my knight. What is it that you wish ?" Ailana inquired. She did not know what he could have to say to her in private as she thought that things had been agreed between them on the last private conversation between them.

"My lady, if I had my choice then I would not do this here. I would wait, and do it properly as tradition dictates. But I fear if I do not act, the opportunity may be lost. But you have taught me that pomp and ceremony are insignificant beside the honest simplicity of our feelings for each other. I .. I love you Ailana. I love you deeply."

"And I love you, Anomen." Ailana replied not sure where he was going with this line as both were aware of the others feelings

"I have pledged my love and allegiance to you, my lady. I have sworn to stand by your side whatever may come and now I wish for the whole world to know how I feel about you. You deserve more than what I can offer, Ailana ... but even had I the riches of all Faerun to bestow upon you it would not be worthy and so, all I can give you is my heart and my hand. Ailana will you marry me ?" Anomen was nervous about how she would react to what he had just said as Ailana never reacted the way he expected her to. Ailana on the other hand was surprised as despite all that he had said to her about spending the rest of their life together she had never let herself truely believe him.

"Anomen, my love ... of course I shall marry you!" Ailana said not having to think about it for more than a few seconds

"Ailana! You ... you have made me the happiest man in the relms! I want to have a great ceramony to celebrate out love Ailana a wedding to rival that of the richest noble house of Athkatla! All our friends shall attend and join us in this joyous occasion." Anomen said

"That is a glorious idea Anomen but we can not be married until this is resolved." Ailana said gently

"Of course it goes without saying that we must finish the task at hand before we can consecrate our love with a marriage ceremony. But until that time, Ailana, I want you to accept something from me now. Take this ring, it was my sisters. I keep it near to remind me of her. It is not much, my lady, but let it serve as a sign of our love, and a symbol of our commitment to each other. Keep the ring near your heart, my love. It shall bind us together when the forces of the world try to tear us apart. A single kiss to seal the deal, my lady ... your lips as ever taste of sweet nectar, and my skin tingles at their touch! Alas my lady we must set off again lest the others get impatient." He had said, with a final kiss they had joined the others at the healing pools. In everything that they went through after that Ailana had never taken the ring off and even when things had been at their darkest Anomen had had that consilation.

Anomen sat upright there was a sense of wrongness in the place much like that he had felt when they had been hell, something was going to happen and very soon. He climbed out of bed and pulled on his mail shirt and various weapons and hurried out the room.

"Imoen! Imoen!" Kalon was shouting and there were other shouts and screams from elsewhere in Candlekeep, these were mixed in with unearthly growls and snarls.

"Sir Kalon, what is happening?" Anomen demanded grabbing hold of the other knight.

"Demons, they came from nowhere and attacked us. My men and I could not hold the gates and they are no within Candlekeep itself. Now let me go and find Imoen." Kalon said anxious to find her and make sure that she made it out safely.

"Wait and I will help you." Anomen said, he gestured and said a few words quietly and summoned a deva to his side. Sir Kalon looked impressed at the abilities the noble comanded and then led the way down the corridor. They di not have to go far before they could hear Imoen ordering people

"I've fought these things before and they can be killed, if we stay together and concentrate our abilities then we may survive this." The two knights hurried to join Imoen and took up positions behind the mages.

"Imoen are you alright?" Kalon demanded looking at her anxiously

"I am not hurt." She replied with a small smile at how concerned he was about her.

"Imoen do you want me to help with offensive spells or do you want me to try and heal those that are injured?" Anomen asked having already sent his deva to the front as its sword could seriously injure many minor demons with just one hit.

"Conserve your abilites and try and heal tjhose who need it." Imoen told him. With a nod Anomen stood against the wall and waited for the first demons to come close, Kalon joined him as his sword would be of most use when the demons began to overwhelm the spellcasters as would inevitably happen.

With a snarl the first of the demons came towards them, as the mages launched a volley of misiles at the creature it staggered and fell back. As soon as it had disapeared a horde of them came forward, Anomen tried to identify some of them as he saw Cambions, pit fiends as well as many others that he could not give a name to. For some minutes it was a confused mess of spells and blood before it cleared and Anomen stepped forward to offer healing to those who he could help. From the look of it a full half of the mages had been killed and many of the others were injured beyond his abilities to heal completely.

"Anomen it is not your fault, you cannot heal everyone." Imoen said guessing correctly what the look on the knights face meant.

"I know that but all the same I wish that there was more that I could do." Anomen said angrily.

"We are all doing all that we can, and nothing more can be done." Kalon said.

"There are more coming." One of the mages called.

"Here we go." Imoen said already beginning to cast her first spell.

"Please be safe my lady." Anomen said knowing that there was no way that Ailana could hear him.

The demons surged forward and through the last few defenders, and when they left Candlekeep there was nothing remaining apart from the dead and a ruin.

* * *

Wow. That's part 10, when I started this I had no idea that it was going to be this long I was expecting a few chapters and that was it.

Plug time. If you like this try my other 2 stories in this category 'What has been lost' and 'Changing lives'. What has been lost is a possible snippet set and Changing lives is going to be much like this one.

Anyway let me know what you think about this one and I'll update soon. Thanks for reading.


	11. Aftermath

A month since I last updated this one at least, I was waiting to hear from people before I did update it but I want to carry on with it but if people could let me know what they think of the direction this is going then I would like to hear from you. Or if you hate what I've done I'd like to hear from you as well.

Anyway here we go with bit 11 and we are back with Ailana and friends.

* * *

On the road to Candlekeep.

"... I did not think when I had to run from here with Gorion that I would not be coming back again, it is strange really I think I had outgrown it before we left though. I think that despite saying that 16 was too young to have to do what I had to do. At least you were older than that before you were forced into a life of fighting." Ailana said to Nalia who was walking by her.

"But look what you had done before you were 20. You had managed to stop the war in the north and had saved many lives."Nalia responed

"I think I would have done things differently if I had been more mature, however there is no point in dwelling on things like that. I cannot wait to see them again, I hope that Anomen has made it there. I want to see if he will be willing to hold our wedding there shortly after we arrive, I need to make sure that he knows how I feel and that the reason I left had nothing to do with how I feel about him."

"He knows how you feel Ailana and he has just been waiting for you to show him that you are ready before he said anything." Keldorn told her. Ailana smiled at him, she had asked the knight to act in the role of her father when her marriage took place and the look on his face had pleased her as the old knight had been delighted.

"Well he need not wait much longer, once round this bend we will be able to see Candlek..." Ailana trailed off as she led her friedns round the bend, she had been expecting to see walls surrounding a high tower, what she saw was a ruin, parts of which were still smoking. The 5 adventurers could do nothing but stare for a minute unable to believe that this had happened.

"Ailana" Aerie began

"No! this can't be true, we must go down there and see what has happened." Ailana said shaking herself and started down the path at a fast walk. The other 4 hurried to catch up with her, Keldorn knew that Anomen should have been there for sometime now and if he had been there when this attack had happened. There was no way that the young knight would have run, it was unlikely that he'd be alive but he would not say that to Ailana, as long as she believed that there was a chance then she would not despair.

The impressive gateway was gone as though whatever had attacked the fort had paid special attention to that, the wooden doors lay smouldering nearby, scorch marks on teh stones showed that whatever had happened to the inhabitants they had not gone without a fight, despite the presance of remains scattered around the courtyard both human and those of the animals that had been there there were no signs of what had attacked.

"What ever did this was not human." Keldron said quietly from where he was examining the body of one of the guardsmen.

"I agree my raven, some creature from the planes did this." Haer'Dalis agreed from where he and Aerie were looking at another of the bodies.

"We should see if anyone is still alive in the keep. There does not seem to be anyone here that we can help." Nalia said practically, she ignored the glare that Ailana aimed at her. The people lying dead were of nothing to her, those inside were important if she wanted to make sure she had the Godchild where she wanted her.

"I cannot sense anyone inside but there may be someone who can be resurected." Aerie said in response to a look from her partner.

"Come on then." Ailana said and strode towards the main entrance, this had been partly demolishd by the look of it to make way for some larger creature to enter than was normal. She hesitated on the verge of entering remembering the last time she had been there, yes it had only been in a vision but the feeling was still there. The remains inside the door were in a worst state than those outside, to Ailana this looked like those outside had been killed if they had got in the way whereas those inside were stopping whatever had been trying to get in from achieving it goal and the creature had unleashed its anger on those in its way.

"Where shall we start?" Haer'Dalis asked

"This way, providing that it is still passable it takes us to the bedchambers and with some luck there will be people still alive or if not alive still able to be resurected by Aerie." Ailana said, Anomens name did not cross her lips and she refused to even think about the possibility that he was dead.

"Do you think that we will find him?" Aerie asked her partner

"I would say that it is unlikely my dove. Can you tell if he has been here?"

"He was here when this happened, I can feel his magical signature, but other than that, there's nothing." Aerie said. This ability to find a friends magic among the residue of others was something that she had been working on for some time and now was quite proficient at it. Haer'Dalis believed her when she said that Anomen had been there, he just hoped that there was something that could be done for the knight when they found him or if there wasn't then he hoped that the knight would not have been desicrated too badly.

Nalia was walking at the back of the group keeping an eye on her travelling companions, on the inside she was looking very proud at the fact that her servants had done so well, they had managed to do everything that she had asked them to do, all she had to do now was join up with them and torment the godchild some before ending her life. Looking at the woman she hated so much she saw how Keldorn was making sure he barely left her side, the man had seemingly adopted her. How people could care for something like that so much she did not know but she was sure that everyone would abandon Ailana when they found out what was about to happen. Hearing the quiet converstaion between the tiefling and his partner she cursed slightly, she should have kept an better watch on the pair of them, obviously wherever they had been had caused the woman to develop her own powers to a much greater depth and she could cause problems. Maybe she should arrange for an accident for her and so eliminate the threat, it would not be too difficult.

"Ailana, I may be able to find where Anomen was if you will let me." Aerie offered knowing that the quicker they found him the more chance there was that they'd be able to help him.

"How?" Ailana demanded

"Since I left the mortal plane I have been training myself to recognise magical signatures in case Haer'Dalis and I became separated. I can tell any of the people we travelled with from those around me. Anomen was here and I think that I can find where he was utilising magic." Aerie said flushing slightly embaressed at being the centre of attention.

"If you can do that then hurry, can you try and find Imoen as well?" Ailana asked

"I can try." Aerie said. After concentrating for a moment she opened her eyes and led the way off to one side.

It did not take Aerie long to lead them to a site which had obviously been the site of some type of battle. There were very few intact bodies and those that there were seemed to be those of soldiers rather than mages, from the way that the remains were scattered there had obviously been some attempt at organised resisitance to stop the attackers.

"Both Anomen and Imoen were here and using magic for some time. I cannot feel it anywhere else. I am sorry Ailana." Aerie said sincerely.

"You have led us here and until I find proof that they are both dead I will not believe it. If you would look at those intact bodies and see if there is anything that can be done towards raising them the rest of us will look for signs of Imoen and Anomen."

Nalia wandered off on her own looking over the bodies, she was thrilled at what her creatures had managed to do, this level of destruction was amazing, this was just in one small fortefied library, what she could do if she unleashed them on a town, now there was a possibility maybe if she unleashed them on Trademeet or somewhere like that. She would have to think about that, as her eyes began to glow red at the sight of the limbs that had been torn off the bodies. Deep down inside a part of her wept for what had happened and what was still to happen.

"Keldorn!" Ailana called looking round wildly. Her eyes did not seem to be focused on anything

"What is wrong?" He asked running to her side, he was expecting to see Anomen or part of him anyway, what he saw was her looking at a morning star that glowed with a pale blue light.

"This is Anomens, we took it from Gromnir when we were fighting in Saradush, he would not have left it here if he had any choice." Ailana said clamly, the wildness of a few minutes before had completely gone and Keldorn knew that it would not be back until everything was dealt with.

"There is demon blood on the weapon my raven, your knight did not leave without a fight." Haer'Dalis observed after he quickly looked at the weapon.

Aerie listened to what was being said but did not break off her examination of the bodies, many of the men had been killed in such a manner as to make it impossible to resurrect them, the young man she was looking at now however was leaning against the wall and from a blood trail had dragged himself there. The only injuries were a couple of very deep cuts which would have left internal organs unharmed. In this case she should be able to bring him to life again.

"Ailana, do you know this man?" she asked wanting to make sure that he was 'one of the good guys' before she retruned him to life.

"That's Kalon. He was a good friend of Imoen when we were children, he is likely to know what happened to her as he would not have left her alone."

"Let me work on him then." Aerie said before kneeling in front of the man and quietly chanting a spell, for a few seconds after the spell was cast there was silence before the man gasped and opened his eyes.

"Who are you?"He asked quietly.

"Aerie, are you alright Kalon?"

"Thirsty."

"Take this then." Ailana said kneeling by his side and offering him a canteen of water. He took and drank slowly.

"Ailana?" He questioned looking at her sharply.

"It is good to see you again Kalon, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Is Imoen here?"

"No. You were the only person we could help in the entire of Candlekeep, I have found no trace of Anomen or Imoen. Can you tell me what happened."

"There were very few of us left, the demons seemed determined to kill all of us, I was bleeding heavily from a wound in my leg and had been separated from Imoen and Anomen. I felt something cut into me and must have collapsed, I saw Imoen and Anomen standing in the middle of the creatures and one of them say that 'he wanted them alive' some spell was cast and they all vannished as did all of them that we had managed to kill. I dragged myself to the wall and that's the last I remember."Kalon said haltingly.

"Can you travel?"

"I think so."

"Good, we'll head south. We need to gather together the others and try and find out who is behind this. I'll get Renal working on it. We need to prepare, if 'he' kept Anomen and Imoen alive it must have been for a reason and it would make sense that that reason is something to do with me. Lets move out and keep watch for anything demonic."

Kalon climbed to his feet slowly and looked at the others all of them were preparing to go, the woman he didn't know however was looking at him with such hatred in his eyes that he felt nervous. Not willing to say anything to the others when they obviously had other things to worry about he promised to keep an eye on things and do something when he had to.

* * *

There we go then. Plot now firmly in place and next time lots more familiar faces start to turn up.

None of the characters are mine the story is however as is Kalon and Vental (he'll turn up next chapter).

Let me know what you think and I'll try to update in a few weeks.


	12. To discover

Hey update time then people. I'm not sure how long it is since I last updated this. It's quite a while I'm sure of that. Thanks Firilya for the review as to why Nalia is acting the way that she is I should get to that before too much longer.

Anyway Anomen is gone for now so we get to stay with Ailana and her bunch. As before Kalon and Vental are mine as is the story the other characters belong to Black Isle.

This is set a few weeks later so they are all back in Athkatla

* * *

Ailana looked up from the latest note from Valygar as Kalon stormed into the room, the young men was swearing loudly in various languages, sighing quietly Ailana put down the note and prepared to deal with the latest problem. 

"What has happened Kalon?" She asked, she could already guess the answer but it was best to get confirmation before she did anything.

"That ... that ... that thief. I swear if you do not do something about him then I can not promise that he will survive in one piece." Kalon said loudly.

"I'll deal with him." Ailana promised, she wished that Renal had found anyone else to give the young thief to. Vental had been a problem as soon as Kalon had arrived in the guildhouse, before then he had been no problem at all but now, it was rare that a day did not go by without the pair disagreeing over something.

"Thank you. I'm going out. I'll be back later." Kalon promised and left by another door.

"Vental!" Ailana shouted, she knew that he would be nearby. A few seconds brought the young man runnning silently up the stairs.

"Yes?" He asked looking at her innocently. She had never been fooled by his innocent routine since she had found him helping to run the guild when she had returnned from Amketheran and she knew that he only did it now as a joke.

"What did you do to Kalon this time?" She asked.

"Me?" Vental asked his green eyes went wider than they had before making him look younger than his 22 years.

"Vental." She growled starting to loose her patience with him

"Alright, I may have walked up behind and made him jump, which may have made him spill ink over Taley who may have punched him to the floor." Vental replied a hint of a grin on his face. The image was one that Ailana found amusing, Taley had been the accountant to her guild since she had borrowed her from Anomen and not given her back, the only problem with the woman was that she was too uptight and the image of her dripping with ink was one that Ailana wished she could have seen that and the look on Kalon's face when Taley had knocked him to the floor.

"Why is it always you two? Can you just leave him alone from now on Vental. I don't want to have you punnished but the next time I hear a complaint about you I will leave you locked in one of the cells in the basement for a day. I am sure that Aerie or one of the others will make it so that you cannot break out of there." Ailana warnned him.

"I'll behave." Vental promised and with a quick turn he headed down the stairs and out the building. From her window on the 1st floor Ailana watched his reddish hair disapear into the crowds that thronged the docks at the moment. Not for the 1st time Ailana wished that she had chosen a different path in her life, none of this might have happened if she had chosen a different life than that of a thief.

De'Arnise Keep...

It had taken some time for Nalia to venture down to the dungeons after her father had been murdered there, but some months after Ailana and some of her friends had vannished from the elven city Nalia had found herself drawn down there. She couldn't explain the pull, but it had been there, sometimes she had been able to ignore it for days on end but then she'd find herself back there in front of a statue that looked much more sinister than it had ever used to. She wasn't sure when the blackouts started, all she knew was that there would be times in the day when she would not know what had happened to her, as these periods became more frequent and for longer she was aware of the staff in the keep giving her strange looks and avoiding her when they could. She did not connect the two things until it was too late.

Now though she could see what was going on but had no choice over what happened, inside her head Nalia wept at what was happening and in the knowledge of what was to happen before much longer.

Thieves guild ...

Ailana had settled down to deal with some of the administrative duties that she had to fulfil due to being head of a guild, Renal did allow her some leway especially at the moment but she still had obligations to the guild which needed to be met at all times. She wanted to be doing nothing more than searching for Anomen and Imoen as a detailed search of Candlekeep had revealed neither of them so she still believed they were alive somewhere. Valygar and Mazzy were out scouting the land around Athkatla to see if they could find any hint of where the demons had gone after attacking Candlekeep, managing to get into contact with Kevan once more Ailana had asked him to look around Candlekeep and the surrounding area. Messages had gone out to all the others and she hoped that they would all make their way to Athkatla soon. The sounds that surrounded her were normal for her guild, Kalon had been ordered to go and find Keldorn and practice with him just to make sure that he could not get into any more trouble with Vental who was still not back, the quiet hum of voices from downstairs was comforting and Ailana actually felt peaceful for a while.

"Where is she?" A voice shouted from downstairs jolting Ailana out of her thoughts.

"I do not know who you mean." Someone else replied.

"Little man I almost laid waste to the lands around Baldur's Gate and I do not think you want to get in my way!" The voice shouted again. Hurridly putting a lid over the ink Ailana hurried downstairs before her brother could kill anyone.

"Saervok, calm down." Ailana said as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, her thieves were surounding Saervok and two others who she presumed were Viconia and Soulafein and it looked as though it was only a matter of time until someone started a fight.

"We are here at your orders, what has happened?" Soulafein asked stepping in front of Saervok and lowering the hood of his cape. Soulafein had changed much in the time he had spent on the surface and had lost many of the drow tendancies which Viconia still clung to.

"Demons attacked Candlekeep some weeks back and destroyed it. We believe that they took Anomen and Imoen with them when they left which implies that this is personal against me." Ailana said quickly. "If you will come with me then I will explain everything to you." She said as she led the way up the stairs.

One of the planes ...

Since they had arrived back in Athkatla Aerie and Haer'Dalis had been plane jumping, demons did not inhabit the same plane as most mortals which meant that a large force had to come from somwhere else and they were determined to find out where.

"How many is this my dove?" Haer'Dalis asked quietly once he had looked round

"12 I think." Aerie replied as she began to cast her spell to trace what magics had been used in the area. Haer'Dalis meanwhile just kept his weapons ready to protect her if he needed to. At her gasp he looked at her.

"Is it them?"

"No but one of Ailana's friends was here or a least cast a spell to this place." Aerie replied surprised that this person could have done such a thing.

"It could have been harmless." Haer'Dalis suggested knowing that it was unlikely one did not accidentally contact the plains.

"This was several times. We've got to get out of here, somethings coming." Aerie said looking round. Grabbing his mate Haer'Dalis ran for cover casting various protective spells on them as he went. They had just got into a crack in what he hoped were rocks when there was a shimering and a familiar figure arrived on the plane.

The pair watched as the copper haired woman stood in one spot, one of her feet was tapping impatiently on the floor and was obviously waiting for someone or something. Not long later something else came towards them and the hidden apir watched in horror as one of the biggest demons they had seen bowed to Nalia De'Arnise.

* * *

I think that was quite a good chapter but if you could let me know I would be greatful. 

What do people think of Vental and Kalon?

Next chapter we'll get allthe heros in place and start the battle.

Review pleaseeee


	13. A Warning

Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like Kalon and Vental I plan on having them around for the rest of the story. As for Nalia, I'm still trying to work out what to do with her and should get there in the next few chapters. As to whether Viconia and Aerie are going to get into any fights I doubt it both ladies have developed a respect for each other and their abilities even if they still don't like each other no fights. Keldorn and Viconia though is a different matter.

Sad to say that I think I'm getting to the end of this maybe 4 more chapters, other than that I have two endings and I'll make sure that I put both up.

* * *

Ailana was starting to become very worried it had been two weeks since Anomen and Imoen had vanished and there had been no word of where they were, Haer'Dalis and Aerie had not been heard from for 4 days and Ailana was beginning to worry as well. Her friends had been arriving for some days now and she was endeavouring to find places for them all. Edwin, Mazzy and Valygar were all living in Valygar's home, Ailana had argued that the couple could cope with Edwin if they needed to, Kevan was with Keldorn as Ailana thought it prudent to keep him as far away from Viconia and Soulafein as possible. Vental had been sent out with Kalon to meet Minsc at the city gates both men were on orders to behave themselves or else and she hoped that for once they would do what they were told to. Nalia had not reported in either and Ailana was just waiting to hear from Aerie before she sent someone out to the De'Arnise keep to find out what was happening there.

There were no rumours of anything being planed that Renal had discovered and while groups like the Order of the Most Radiant Heart were beginning to mobilise troops should they be needed Ailana was only too aware of the fact that her small group of friends, the knights and thieves would not be enough to defeat an army of demons like that Kalon had described attacking Candlekeep. The mages that were currently abiding with her or her friends had placed strong protection spells on and around all the bases so that the inhabitants should be safe from anything while there.

"Ailana!" Valygar shouted from the ground floor. Jumping to her feet she hurried down the stairs. She stopped half way down the stairs and saw what was wrong a glowing portal was slowly growing in the centre of the room, various mages scattered around the room were trying to close it but with no success.

"Can we not stop it?" Ailana asked Saervok who had moved to stand by her as soon as she had started down the stairs.

"I do not believe they can." He rumbled in response.

"Stop trying to stop whatever is coming through from doing so and let it. Once we have established its purpose here then we will deal with it." Ailana called.

"That is a stupid decision but I could not expect anything more from one like you." Edwin announced but he stopped all the same. As Ailana expected once the mages had stopped trying to keep the portal closed it flared brighter for a few seconds then vanished leaving two familiar figures standing there.

"We made it." Aerie said before collapsing back into her partners arms.

* * *

An hour later

"How are they?" Ailana asked the healer when he emerged from her friends rooms.

"They will be fine. Both have drained themselves both physically and magically but with plenty of rest they'll recover just fine." The woman replied.

"When can I speak to them?"

"I put them under a healing spell till tomorrow, neither seemed willing to rest unless I did so, they kept saying something about the fact that 'she's coming' frankly I did not know what they meant." The healer smiled and left the building.

"She's coming" Ailana repeated. "Who is she and when is she arriving?"

* * *

Now I really do have to say sorry for the length of time between updates. I got side tracked. Hope you like this chapter anyway 


	14. Battle part 1

Been a while since anything on here hot updated but I'm working on this one now and providing I don't get bitten by any more story ideas I should have some more of this out soon. Anyway characters you know do not belong to me but Jerel, Vental and Kalon are all mine. There is character death in this part - it's a battle so you should expect it - but I'm letting you know just in case.

* * *

It was over a week since Aerie and Haer'Dalis had returned bearing the news that Nalia was leading the demon army and that they planned on attacking near Candlekeep. Ailana had led her small army out there one that was slowly growing as the days passed. At first it had mainly been her friends and a small band of thieves and knights but now her numbers neared 10 thousand and she knew that it would not be enough. Renal had proved yet again that he was a good friend and he had contacted others guilds calling in old debts and so her number of thieves and assassins as well as various mages they numbered 500 in total and while she doubted they would fare all that well against demons she knew that numbers would be important. There were over 1000 knights of the radient Heart lead by Keldorn and their numbers had been swelled by clerics and the troops belonging to the major and minor faiths in Athkatla and other areas doubling their numbers. There were others as well one of the biggest surprises being a group of elves from Suldanessellar arriving though only a small number she was glad of their help. 

"Lady Ailana?" Jerel called from nearby she looked up to see the elven war leader standing nearby.

"My lord Jerel how may I assist you?" She asked intrigued by what the elf would want as he had remained apart from the others for the most part only mingling with them during planning sessions.

"Is it possible for us to talk in private? I have received word from my queen and feel I must impart her words to you."

"Certainly follow me." Ailana said knowing that anything Ellesime had to say would be of importance.

She reached the tent which had been set as a command tent, two of the young knights stood by the entrance both stood to attention when she got there.

"Don't let anyone in here until I say so." Ailana said used to having her orders obeyed after building up this army.

"We won't." One of them promised. Jerel nodded at them and the elf and human entered the tent.

"Ellesime only contacted me last night. As I am sure you are aware due to her connection to our city and through it too nature she can contact individuals while they are asleep if she so wants. Last night she contacted me and said that several of our priests have had dreams about the coming battle." Jerel said staring at the floor.

"Is this something that'll be important to how the battle turns out?" Ailana asked wondering if she needed some of the others in the tent

"This is something that you need to hear, if you feel that you must tell others than you must do so but for now I think it best that you alone hear what I have to say." Jerel said.

When he left her tent half an hour later Ailana was sitting stunned by what he had told her. She jumped when a hand was laid on her shoulder a hand was on her sword when she realised Keldorn was standing behind her hands in a non-threatening position.

"You startled me."

"Sorry, Jerel came to find me said you would need someone to talk to." The knight said with a gentle smile.

"Ellesime sent him a message about the battle." Ailana said

"Does she think we will win?"

"We will win but many of those here will never go home, and me … I have a choice to make. It seems that the gods have not yet finished with me and they still feel I should take my fathers throne … but enough of the future, how go the preparations for battle?"

"We will be ready Ailana." Keldorn promised.

"Ellesime tells me that we have till tomorrow then we must fight." Ailana said looking up and at the knight with eyes much older than her years.

"Tomorrow we will win and by nightfall we will have Anomen back with you once more." Keldorn said with a smile and if he noticed that Ailana's smile was forced he did not comment.

* * *

The next morning: 

For Ailana the next morning came far too quickly, she had not slept much the night before her dreams full of nightmares. When she left her tent dressed in her leather armour and already fully armed, potions were tucked into a pouch at her waist. She was not surprised to find much of her army in the process of preparing for the fight ahead.

"Ailana." Sarevock called from behind her.

"Sarevock?"

"I wish to be by your side in the battle ahead. Viconia is more than capable of leading the were's. They trust her and will follow her lead." Sarevock rumbled.

"I would be glad to have you by my side." Ailana said as her brothers trust was one thing that she had learnt to depend on.

By the time that the first scouts started to report in that the demons had been seen Ailana's army was in place. She stood with Sarevock and Minsc on a low hill looking at her troops. The left flank of her army was made up of clerics who were both magic users and fighters. Her centre was made up of the Paladins and thieves while the right flank was a mix of elves, gnomes and dwarves. Someway behind these was the rest of her army, Viconia and Soulafein stood with almost 400 were's ready to move wherever needed, Logan of Trademeet had gathered together a small force of 100 men all prepared to fight.

Ailana's friends were mixed in with the army, Kevan, Aerie, Jan and Haer'Dalis were on the right flank with the assorted races of Amn. Valygar, Mazzy, Kalon and Keldorn were in the centre. Vental, Edwin and Cernd stood with the clerics. Taking a last moment to glance round and try to memorise many of the faces Ailana turned to the battlefield and the approaching demon horde, somewhere amongst them were her sister and the man Ailana loved more than life itself. Sitting on the shoulder of one of the demons was a copper haired woman dressed in red and black with eyes that glowed red. Time stretched as she watched and then the two huge armies collided.

"Go for their eyes Boo go for their eyes!" Minsc yelled as he attacked another demon in the seemingly unending attack. By his side Ailana fought fiercely waiting for a chance to see Nalia and demand that Anomen and Imoen be returned to her. Sarevock was fighting his own battle a short distance away fighting a Marilith and when Ailana last glanced at him her brother seemed to be holding his own. Hurriedly drawing one of the few un-enchanted daggers she threw it towards the magic golem that was drifting towards her and was grateful to see it fall, sword in one hand and enchanted knife in another she looked to see where she could go next. Seeing a flash of red and black she moved away from her brother and protector to try and end it once and for all.

Valygar and Mazzy fought as they never had before, all the enemies they had battled together when they had journeyed with Ailana and all those they had fought since then none had been as difficult as the fight now before them. Mazzy heard Valygar grunt in pain behind her but she could not take her eyes of the demon in front of her long enough to check on her beloved, it was only when his presence was gone from her back that she dared to glance round seeing him on his knees weapons dropped from nerveless fingers, a campion poised over him, feeling claws digging deeply into her back Mazzy breathed a prayer to her goddess and hurried to her lovers side. A faint blue shield surrounded them one that the demons were unable to penetrate,

"Valygar?" She questioned softly as his eyes did not seem focused on her. With an effort he focused on her.

"Mazzy? How goes the battle?" He gasped.

"Right shall triumph this day." She promised him.

"That is good." He smiled, eyes closing and head lolling to the side.

"Wait for me my love, I shall be with you shortly." Mazzy promised as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. Getting to her feet slowly she could feel blood seeping from her back, she was feeling dizzy and knew that she had just a short time to live. Sword in hand she detonated her shield instantly slaying several demons and dived into the fight, demons surrounded her and finally their sheer numbers wore her down.

* * *

So what do you think? There is still more to come next time Nalia and Ailana finally clash.  
Love it? Hate it? Let me know. 


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